


Plotting Bunnies

by a tattered rose (atr)



Category: Eureka
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-09
Updated: 2012-01-09
Packaged: 2017-10-29 06:49:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/316926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atr/pseuds/a%20tattered%20rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>She'd smack anyone else who called her Josephina.</i>  Maybe Jo's run far enough, and it's time to stop.  A realization reached with the aid of some rather irksome bunnies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plotting Bunnies

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [smallfandomfest](http://smallfandomfest.livejournal.com) at LJ for the prompt: _She'd smack anyone else who called her Josephina._

_The Trouble with lodging yourself in a whole other timeline,_ Jo mused, extracting herself from the soft smothering grip of the enthusiastic rabbit attempting to throttle her with hugs, _the trouble was that even though everything was the same, everything was different._ Static cling zapped her hand, as the chirping bundle of fur landed in the cage with a soft thump, four other rabbits piling on in comfort. _And even though everything was different, nothing had changed._

 

The next demented rabbit flattened one of its captured brethren. It really should _not_ have latched on to her gun.

 

"They don't mean anything by it, just a tad over-affectionate, nothing wrong with that!"

 

The overly cheery voice cut through her internal monologue. Apparently her _external_ monologue. She blushed, busying herself in extrication from one currently burrowing into her hair.

 

 _Lost my house to a rogue rocket, had to live with Carter. Lost my house to a musically insane Zane, had to live with Carter_ again." ( _Got_ to live with Carter, she admitted to herself. Both times it had been like the close-knit dorm friendships she hadn't had time to experience.) _Against the odds, wound up with the town bad boy. Hit the reset button,_ still _wound up with the town bad boy._

 

 _Deputy Sheriff, saved the town from every stupid accident the geniuses of this town could dream up – and more problematically, many they_ hadn't. _Head of GD Security, more of the same._

 

She cut a glance at Taggart, wincing as tiny nails scratched lines of tickling warmth into her scalp. He was nuzzling the last of his own bunnies, until it vibrated in what he'd probably say was bunny laughter. Another day, another annoyance. At least this one wasn't trying to eat her, delete the town from existence, or blow up the planet. They were probably saving that little joy for Tuesday.

 

"Tell me again why someone thought this was a good idea?" she grouched.

 

"They're therapy bunnies. Could anyone really resist these cute little faces?" Taggart turned his new friend towards her, tickling it under the chin until it closed its eyes and squirmed in pleasure.

 

Truth was, they _were_ pretty cute. Like hell she'd admit it though, especially after just being mobbed.

 

And especially not when it was just her and Taggart, standing in the middle of an empty field.

 

"After seeing what they do, I think I could manage, yes. Why couldn't you use a dog? You can train dogs." She winced at the tingling shocks now twitching down her back and through her arms.

 

Her personal fluffy bit of hell was fully entrenched, tearing at small clumps of hair every time she tried to extract it. Too bad threats to shoot rarely worked on animals.

 

"Thought about it, but the mites breed to slowly and need too much space." He carefully placed the happy bundle into the cage, taking a moment to offer another one a scratch behind the ear.

 

Loosening her grip, Jo tried to _shake_ the damn thing out. Both the rabbit and the thought. The creatures had all but wiped out Australia. Think what an army of these unstoppable mutant hugging bunnies could to the North America.

 

She was starting to feel vaguely warm and relaxed, her predicament less urgent.

 

"Need some help with that?"

 

She didn't. But really she did, which was why she shrugged and turned around to give him access.

 

"There are lots of lonely people in the world, Jo." His voice was quieter than normal, because he was closer. Nothing was off except her stomach, tightening with the uncomfortable knowledge that she'd walked away. Twice, apparently. "Just looking for someone to love, someone to love them back." The sigh around the edges was in her imagination.

 

Then she was struck by the terrifying realization that if in this timeline they'd gotten as far as a proposal, he knew her a hell of a lot better than she knew him.

 

Well enough, at least, to know she liked having her hair stroked. She tensed. Not well enough to know she hated to let her guard down, especially out in the open.

 

He started making calm chittering noises.

 

She relaxed. He'd been petting the rabbit. Stupid that she was half-disappointed by that.

 

"And they're supposed to get that from a _rabbit_?" Loneliness was something she knew about. The little hole inside craving... _something._ She knew enough to know people needed people first, not animals. Knew enough to feel how breeding pets to fill the void was like giving up on hope, once and for all.

 

Taggart was parting her hair gently, as if he was diffusing a bomb. "It's been standard operating procedure for years, d'ya know? Dogs in hospitals, cats in rest homes. But the cats are a mite unpredictable, nowadays they've mostly been swapped out for robots."

 

"Robots? I thought that only happened in Eureka?"

 

"Going to have to take this out."

 

And that made no sense, until she felt a tugging, and her hair tie dropped over her shoulder, into her hand.

 

"Nah, rudimentary animatronics been all over for years. Quite realistic ones too – scaled down from the movies ones, of course. Not quite up to our standards, I'll admit." He chuckled, warm air over the bare nape of her neck. "But then the first time one of our little development exploded, it might cause a bit of a ruckus."

 

It was easy to forget, sometimes, that much as the town felt entirely separate from the rest of the world, many of what was generally considered "cutting edge innovation" was really watered down (and now _mostly_ harmless) version 23.8 of something a Eureka scientist had invented on a whim years before.

 

She lived a life of action, reaction. Sometimes it was even hard to remember there was any other way to be.

 

"There you are, free as a bird."

 

Eureka had her now, and would never let go. A crazy cage. But she had never felt more free.

 

The now-familiar weigh lifted from her head, and she felt light, still glowing and a little drunk on fresh air and sunshine. It had been nice, for once, to not be the one taking care of the problem. Even if the problem had been rather silly and trivial.

 

She heard the cage shut and latch, (safety first, _this_ time), but she didn't move. It was quiet and still and the breeze was rather nice, lifting the short hairs on her arms. The residual static tickled her hand as she finger-combed her hair, feeling-

 

Like she had been infected by bunny love.

 

"C'mon, Josephina." Taggart hefted the cage onto the trolley. "Time to get these little fellas back where they belong."

 

 _She'd smack anyone else who called her 'Josephina.'_

 

Desperately, she tried to remember the little pre-hunt lesson, which hadn't seemed very important at the time.

 

 _But out here, right now – that's who she felt like. Less_ Jo _, who assessed every situation and resolved the conflict, and more_ Josephina, _who maybe didn't always put that sort of thing first. Unless it was a life-ending sort of emergency._

 

They were relatively safe, just clingy. Loved affection, loved to give affection. Well, that part she understood pretty well.

 

She stared after Taggart as he let the low trolley roll itself towards his truck, whistling as he worked. A chorus of tiny noises joined him from the cage. In a world where it could be so hard to connect, he always – in every world – seemed to slide into them so easily. He was always open to the things that always made her close up, and invited everyone into his world.

 

Aha! His final instructions drifted into her mind.

 

 _If they get hold of you, their fur carries a specific frequency of static. Not to worry about it, bit of a sting, sometimes. It's designed to cause relaxation, quite like being a bit drunk, without the impaired judgment._

 

Maybe he knew her, _really_ knew her, after all. The same but different, different but the same.

 

If what he said was true, she was entirely herself just... _Josephina._ If she was Josephina, she'd go with her gut. She'd run away, a whole universe away, and here she still was.

 

"Taggart!"

 

He turned around, looking at her quizzically as she caught up.

 

"Problem, Jo?"

 

Quizzical eyes followed her as she stepped onto the cage, as she lowered her head to his, and blinked in surprise as she kissed him.

 

She'd spent her life running, running to things, running from things, running fast and hard to prove herself worthy of respect from everyone she'd ever met. Except Taggart. The only person she'd ever met who challenged her, pushed her, but let her make up her own mind about the results.

 

Her spine tingled.

 

Maybe it was too late for them in _her_ universe. All they'd had was a tentative beginning, and too much had happened since for them to go back and try again. Maybe it was too late in _this_ universe, _this_ Jo had fled at the worst possible moment. Hell, maybe it was too late anyway; Taggart had spent a year moving on and if anyone could, it was him.

 

Except he was kissing her back, gently, tentatively, hands light on her hips, offering her the choice to chose.

 

She inched closer, smiling against his mouth.

 

Maybe all her running had meant was a second chance at _them_.


End file.
